Reality of Virtuality
by Shadowjonathan
Summary: Joining a new experimental program, a college kid wants to meet his childhood heroes by using their newest equipment of simulating reality, he scoffs it off as everyday VR tech, but he slowly realizes it's anything but as he delves into cases and investigations with his new friends.
1. Looking around

He looked down on the letter in his hands. A part of him was excited, the other part however, a tad anxious.

Finally, he grabbed a kitchen knife and opened the letter addressed to him, and read it. It had come with a big packet, which was currently on the floor besides him, various fees attached to it.

It read: "Congratulations, Mr. Spiegel, We have hereby finished our psychological examination and trials of the tests you have taken these past weeks. And so we are happy to announce you are in the top 15% of those that were a correct match to the systematic makeup we try to deliver."

He let out a breath of relief he didn't even knew he had been holding. Indeed, for the past 2 weeks, he had taken the time to come down to a local testing center ("local" meaning 3 hours of traveling in public transport). But, even as he ranked nicely, he was also told nothing was for certain yet. so for now, he relaxed, and deposited himself on the couch.

"You know of our NDA, but as recent results and questions show, this proved too hard to maintain when family and friends are involved. So hereby we extend that request: 'Any family members and acknowledged friends are allowed to know of the AEAI System, but are prohibited from using it, as unauthorized usage will interfere with both the gameplay and system.' You can find details of this amendment on our website."

He snorted, _'tell that to my little sister, she'll probably put it on the first chance she gets'_. Like her brother, she was a Ace Attorney Fanatic, and had even helped bring in some extra dollars for the entry fee.

He mentally made a note to lecture her on this, and to put the "AEAI system" somewhere safe, like a locker.

Reading the paragraph again, he stopped and blinked at the word "AEAI system". Even with all the talk from the "doctors", and his personal mentor, they never explained to him what it exactly _was_ , or showed him pictures, or even schematics of the device. It was one of the reasons that package would be opened as soon as he was done with the letter, and waited till his sister was out somewhere with her friends for the night.

"Have fun with the Active Engagement A.I. System, Mr. Spiegel. And don't forget,"In Justice we trust!""

He snorted, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sometimes, companies can be _too_ cheesy for their own good.

"Kind regards, Eve Valate, Head of the AEAI experiment. Capcom."

Eager to begin unpacking, he almost missed the fine print. Frowning, he put the letter close to his glasses.

"Disclaimer: We are hereby not responsible for any discomfort or irregularities AEAI might bring you, any further questions can be asked at our special help desk."

Frowing even deeper on reading that, and while folding the letter, he pondered the implications from that statement.

He sighed and muttered, "Well, guess that's a small price to pay for something awesome, sounds fishy though…"

He grabbed the package and placed it on his desk. Looking and flipping it around, before grabbing a knife from the kitchen, and starting to cut through the tough tape.

* * *

My name is Alexander 'Alex' Spiegel, Dutch Immigrant, living in Britain for almost 6 years, and a devoted Ace Attorney Fan. When I heard about a exclusive program Capcom was offering some fans (I swear I've checked the email about 6 times for any phishing tells or viruses), I immediately signed up for it.

I guess I'm _somewhat_ of a nerd…? Not really sure myself, but my sister Judith likes to remind me of the strong difference between my room and hers. While she's doing a minor in Law, I have mine (and my major) in "something nerd-related", as she likes to put it. I always have to remind her it's called "IT", not "nerd-school".

* * *

Alex grabbed a glass of soda after having broken the tough tape, and then _finally_ opened the box.

When he pushed his hands inside, the first item he grabbed was a… charger. Grinning for a moment and setting it aside, he grabbed the next thing, which was _much_ more interesting.

It surely _looked_ like a headset, but at the same time… it really didn't. He flipped it around, and put it on, staring at the black, unpowered back-lenses. Then it suddenly dawned on him, and face-palmed the front of the lenses. He was wearing a _VR-headset_ , or at least something like it.

Shaking his head, he quickly pulled it off. And looked at the other things inside the box; Some cables, a pamphlet, a manual (he flipped through that one before continuing, only boring disclaimer stuff), a pair of headphones, some gloves, and what seemed like _another_ disclaimer ( _'The manual's already full of it, jeez'_ ).

Emptying the soda, he began to put all the pieces in place, turning on the laptop (not the desktop computer upstairs, the manual promised that the headset was self-sufficient with computing power, which earned another raised eyebrow), connecting the USB cable to it. And just then, he saw light shining through the eye-lenses of the set.

Alex hesitated before putting it on, and quickly sent a message to Judith that the headset came in. Yes, he was trying it out. No, _don't_ scare him when he's in the middle of a game. Or they'll not have pizza takeout for a week, and she'll have to cook.

When she replied with a ":P" emoji, he sighed and turned on silent mode before throwing the device onto the couch.

Alex then walked to the middle of the living room, between a stool, their regular couch, and Judith's bean couch, cables flowing from the back of the device like he was plugged into the matrix. He then pulled the lenses down.

Alex had never tried VR before, seeing his friends bump into tables, couches, chairs, and even each other at college parties made him hesitant to try before.

But just at that moment, when he pulled the device over his eyes, he forgot where he was, and instead of his dark living room, saw a blindingly white space, with some letters floating a few meters away.

Adjusting his eyes to the brightness, Alex squinted at the letters. "Please put on your gloves", oh… right.

Letting out a little chuckle, he pulled the headset off, and walked over to the table. Alex found the gloves on the table, between dozens of unneeded cables, connecting the little wires into the sides of his headset, and then resumed.

The text had changed, and it now required Alex to do some basic reachability tests, making sure he could reach this and that, Alex complied. Then a female voice began reading the disclaimers.

Groaning, Alex put up with it for a few minutes, till when he was crossing his arms and tapping the sides with one finger ( _'edgeworth-style'_ he noted, _'heh.'_ ). But after groaning, he muttered, "Yeah yeah yeah, I've read this and heard this a thousand times already, I don't need to hear it again, thank you very much…"

 _"No problem, Mr. Spiegel, have a nice day."_

 _That_ made Alex freeze on the spot.

"Wait, wha-!? AHHH!"

The light brightened and he felt like his eyes were about to split open his skull. Even behind his closed eyelids, it was too strong.

It was over in about 3 seconds. He blinked, and turned his head around, seeing nothing but a less brighter white. But slowly and surely a shape formed in front of him, and then some color, and then… wait a minute.

 _'Is that… Phoenix Wright's beanie?'_

Indeed, it was his… hat, for the lack of the better word, sitting on top of a trophy, sitting on top of a… magic cut-out box…?

Looking around, he concluded was _definitely_ at the Wright Anything Agency, only more… colorful that he could remember.

 _'Woah, this looks so much better than through a tiny screen.'_

Staring around him in slight awe, Alex grinned widely, taking in the sight. Thus he didn't notice the door opening and closing behind him. Reminiscing into remembering every little detail he could, he only snapped out his thoughts when someone clapped a hand on his shoulder, and he felt like he shot 10 feet in the air.

"Dammit Judith! I **told** you not to disturb me while I am- oh…"

Turning around, thinking it was his sister attempting to scare the living daylights out of him, ( _'again'_ ), Alex met face to face with _Apollo Justice_ , his unusual brown haircut as real as his weirded-out expression, which was looking into his direction as if he suddenly grew a second head.

"…Didn't sleep well?" He asked, his expression changing a little into a concerned face, but his eyes refused to stop staring at him.

"Uuuuuuh…" All Alex could do was stare dumbly at Apollo, _Apollo Justice_ , as they shared some awkward silence until he was suddenly _hugged from behind._

"Al! 'Pollo! You guys are early! Making an early start today?"

Already used by people suddenly scaring them within the last minute, he turned around and saw _Trucy Wright_ smiling up to him. _'Woah, even if she's… around 17 by now, she's still smaller than me, heh'_ he thought with a grin.

Apollo had apparently already found his voice, and was now glancing smugly at trucy, adjusting his tie. "Yeah! This is the first real job I've had in a while after all!"

Trucy smiled at him, and turned to Alex. "And you, Al? This is your first real work day at the office after all, even though you've been here for _aaaaaages_."

 _'I have?'_ , "Al" was about to blurt out, till he thought about it, and cleared his throat. "Uuuuh, well, I just didn't want to be late on my first day of the office… right?" he said with a nervous tone, scratching the top of his head.

Trucy smiled at him too. Apollo grinned, "Well, either that, or you didn't want to miss the work Mr. Wright gave us over the phone yesterday evening." He turned to Trucy. "What kind of work is it anyway? Mr. Wright didn't mention any details."

"Hmmmm, work, is that how he put it?" Trucy mused, putting a finger to her chin. Alex was suddenly reminded what Apollo's "normal" job at the office was; cleaning toilets, and he strifled a laugh. Apollo apparently noticed, and his expression changed accordingly. Alex again chuckled at that, before Apollo gave him a half-glare for it, groaning.

 _That_ put him out of the daze he had been in since he came here. Looking at Trucy Wright and Apollo Justice in front of him, he suddenly remembered who, what and where he was. He turned to Trucy, hyperventilation seemly around the corner. "Trucy, where's the bathroom?" She looked puzzled, but gave instructions to go down the hall, and while walking out, Alex heard Apollo and her flare up a conversation again.

Alex shut the door, leaning against the door, and looked at the toilet. _'Nonono, nothing is real here, it's fake.'_ Alex reminded himself, before sitting on it, regardless of it being real or fake.

 _'Okay, deep breaths, what the_ _ **heck**_ _just happened? This is nothing like the email or pamphlet said, or what the tests hinted against, just what kind of "system" is this?'_

Alex knocked on the wall with his knuckles. But that didn't help any of his racing thoughts, as the tiles under his hands felt so _real_. _'Fake stuff shouldn't feel this real, not even dreams can get this close.'_

Alex mused and thought about how a computer could even simulate this kind of real-ness, how it could even simulate _people_ like Apollo and Trucy, how it could make such good conversation AI, how it could give him a sense of forgetting where he was for a second, how it could-

 _'I-I need a sec…'_

Alex grabbed his head, hoping he had gotten the sides his headset "In real life", and suddenly the world shifted into the much darker background of his apartment, gone were the tiles, gone was the toilet.

Alex was still standing in the same spot he began in, and looked down at the headset with a frown, just _what_ was this thing?

 _"Please continue with your play session, or confirm game pause"_ a voice in his ear said, just then noticing the weight of the headphones.

"Uhhh…" remembering how it responded earlier on his voice, Alex shrugged, "I want to continue in just a moment, I feel a little overwhelmed, I think."

 _"Acknowledged. Pausing play session… paused. It is normal to experience nausea in the first few minutes of Virtual Reality, do not hesitate to drink a glass of water, or any other preferred form of hydration, it is also advised-"_

Pulling off the headset and headphones, Alex ran his hands across his face, and grabbed another can of soda from the freezer. Drinking it straight down in one go, and then throwing the can away.

Sitting on one the kitchen chairs, Alex suddenly grinned. Getting over the initial shock of the real _real-ness_ the VR-headset provided earlier, he was now finally getting into what has brought him to this experiment in the first place: a chance to meet eye-to-eye with one of his many kid idols. _'Well, as real as it can get, anyway'_

Effectively stumbling back into the living room, Alex quickly put on the headphones and headset. Looking at the white walls again, he said "Please continue". Then found himself sitting on the toilet again, inside the Agency, with his hands above the sink.

Leaving the toilet, he ran his hand across the wall as he walked back ( _'it feels so real, what the hell did they do with the gloves?'_ ).

"Ah, Al, you're back! Now we can finally go!" Trucy said with a smirk.

"Huh? Where are we going? What about the job Mr. Wright mentioned?" Apollo asked, confused.

"This IS the job, Polly! You two are supposed to keep me company today! Now, come on!" She rushed out of the door.

"Another day or not being a lawyer. Should've seen this coming." Apollo muttered.

Alex snorted. "If I remember correctly, recently this agency has been named the"Wright _Anything_ Agency", and you gotta admit this is better than your _usual_ job…"

"Hey, don't rub it in!" Apollo exlaimed with an embarrassed expression. "Where's Mr. Wright, anyway?"

"Uh… no idea." He lied. Alex _did_ know where Phoenix was at the moment, he was out of the country, if he recalled correctly. Alex had groaned at first when he realized he was now playing inside the plot of 'Dual Destinies', one of his least-favorite Ace Attorney games. Not to say it was a bad one, just… not his favorite, for multiple reasons.

"Hmmm… Trucy?" Alex yelled across the hall, where Trucy was standing near the exit, and turned around at the mention.

"Yes? Oh yeah! Daddy said something about going to meet an acquaintance, someone new. Don't worry. Just focus on _your_ job, and I'll tell you exactly what you need to know."

"Which means she gets to boss us around today…" Apollo muttered again, with a groan. Alex let out a snort, patting the back of the older Lawyer.

"Well, let's go! We don't have all day!" Trucy said, already out of the door, and signaling a wandering taxi their way.

* * *

The taxi ride was pretty long, and so was Apollo's face after he got the bill handed to him ("You guys are assaulting my wallet. I swear, if I wasn't a lawyer…"). But then they waved goodbye to the driver, and walked into the busy streets, till they reached a particularly busy one, Yokai lane.

"Whew… So, what are we doing way up here in the mountains?" Apollo asked, positively sweated.

"This is Nine-Tails Vale. Everyone's been talking about the yokai craze here." Trucy said, bopping up and down, holding her hat at the brim, looking smug ( _'does she really take her outfit everywhere with her?'_ ).

"Yokai? Oh, you mean like, Japanese monsters? Guess that explains all these weird things…" Apollo said in thought, as Alex next to him stared wide-eyed at the artifacts all over the street.

He got some brief flashbacks of him being a teen again, laying in bed late at night, the only light coming from a smuggled 3DS, where he would be playing deep into the night. He had raveled at the 3D effect, where every item on the screen stood out instead of being normal 2D textures.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, he noticed Apollo and Trucy were talking about the history of the town, and some recent Yokai craziness, till Trucy gasped as she glanced at a clock. "Oh, it's almost time! Come on! Polly! Al! The festival grounds are this way!"

She grasped Apollo by the wrist, and he let out a small shout. "W-Wait a second! _Trucy!_ "

* * *

"Wow, this place is really something." Apollo said between breaths.

"Yup, it feels like a different world here." Trucy agreed.

"I wonder how many tourists get here every day…" Alex wondered, more to himself than to anyone else.

"…Trucy."

They all turned around to see a young woman in red-white robes, black hair held up in clips, and two papers with Japanese markings on her forehead.

"Jinxie!" Trucy ran forward and hugged her quickly.

"And this is…?" Apollo asked, Alex was about to answer for him, till he remembered he, technically, actually wouldn't be able to know her name, and so stayed quiet.

"Guys, this is my friend, Jinxie Tenma. She's the one who invited us!" Trucy said, gesturing to her, and holding the other arm on her opposite shoulder. But she only didn't seem to notice that, and only had fearful eyes on Apollo, her hand slowly reaching under the plate she was holding.

"…T-Two horns. A love of red. Are you a demon?" she shuddered.

"What? No! Ha ha. I'm Apollo Justice, nice to meet you!" Apollo boomed with his chords of steel, grinning invitingly.

" _EEEEEEK!_ He _is_ a demon!" Jinxie screamed, and had already plastered a charm onto his forehead.

"Be gone, you foul beast!" She held up a hand full of charms, and Alex snickered behind his hand. Bad move, because Jinxie then noticed Alex.

"Ah! There! Another demon! Begone!" _smack!_ "W-Woah!"

Before he knew it, Alex _also_ had a charm on his forehead, and he looked at it with his eyes as it sat in the middle of his field of view, blinking rapidly.

"W-What? Why am _I_ a demon all of the sudden?"

"J-Just look at your clothes, you're obviously a Witch-demon!" Jinxie shouted, as Apollo was torn between laughing at Alex, and hesitantly tugging at _his_ charm.

Alex looked down at his clothes, and indeed, he was almost blinded by how _green_ they were. Looking closer, he wore black pants, a purple t-shirt, with a green sweater which had a… symbol?

 _'…How long have I been wearing this?'_

He fingered the symbol for a second, it looked like a swirl, and was printed in dark yellow leather in the middle of his chest.

Next to him, Apollo asked Jinxie about the charm, and then proved (or tried to) that he wasn't a demon. But Alex already wasn't listening, he noticed that whenever he stroke his fingers on any of the symbol's leather, he would feel something funny behind his navel. _'Odd.'_

When he returned back to planet earth with his thoughts, Jinxie and Trucy were discussing what seemed like… Turkish baths…?

Shaking his head, he stepped (or butted) into the conversation.

"So, Jinxie, I heard about… Yokai? What are they, exactly?"

"How dare you! A witch like you should well know what they are! They are your creatures, after all!"

Taken aback by Jinxie's sudden outburst, he turned to Trucy, who giggled before explaining.

"I already told you earlier. Yokai are Japanese monsters, kinda like Polly over here ( _"Hey!"_ ). They live in places like the underworld, but sometimes come above ground to terrorize humans. Isn't that right, Jinxie?"

Jinxie nods, and held her plate up, covering part of her face. "Uh huh, Today, a lot of them have been seen around the mansion, where I work…" she shuddered.

"Wait, you work at a mansion?" Apollo asked, intrigued.

"Yup, as a maid. I promised Papa yesterday I'll scare all of those demons away from over there while he is on that visit!" She exclaimed, waving around her hand full of charms, Alex and Apollo took a step back.

"…but my charms don't work on all demons, yesterday the Ding-Dong demon visited multiple times. It didn't matter how many charms I put around the button, or on the door, it just didn't stay away!"

"The Ding-Dong demon?" Alex asked, bemused.

"Uh-huh, I hear the doorbell ring, but when I open the door, nobody is there. It's that Ding-Dong Demon! How else could you explain it?"

Apollo scratched the back of his head. "Well… When I was a kid, my friends used to play this prank called Ding-Dong Ditch, if that helps any."

"Well, that doesn't prove the Demon isn't real! There's even one here at the manor. The evil Tenma Taro, he's imprisoned in the Forbidden Chamber!"

"Tenma… Taro? The Forbidden Chamber?" Apollo seemed skeptical.

Alex tuned out of the conversation, His thoughts turning to everything around them, how real it sounded, and how real it all looked.

Since he "arrived" here, he hadn't found one thing out-of-place, or something that didn't look "weird", nothing that suggested it was really a game. Everything looked… real, for the lack of the better word. And he mulled over it.

Even in the best games he played, the ones the developers always advertised as "real as reality", he always found things that made him realize it was just a game, or at least a simulation. Here, nothing seemed like it, and everything was _real_ , or at least felt so, he didn't like it.

 _'Even some surreal games I've played have flaws, unless I'm not seeing one, this is a very, very special case…'_

But he was shaken out of his thoughts by Trucy waving goodbye to Jinxie.

"She's a strange one, all right." Apollo mused.

"I think she's sweet in her own special way." Trucy commented. "Come on, we still have some time to kill! Let's see the rest of Nine-tails vale!"

* * *

Alex blinked, and looked around him. They were still in the garden, but one glance at Apollo, and he knew some time had passed, because he was carrying 3 bags full of Yokai stuff. Alex tried his hardest not to laugh at the sight, and Apollo's defeated expression.

Alex thought for a second. _'Woah, Time-skip? Huh, I didn't know they implemented that here.'_ He then grinned. _'Well, I asked for a unrealistic thing, and here is one.'_

"I think I bought nearly every yokai souvenir that was for sale." Trucy said, looking over the bags.

"I know, because my wallet's running on empty," Apollo said, obviously having difficulty holding all of them, "and I'm glad Alex wanted to pay after that. I don't know how many more bags I can carry before my back permanently bends down." he groaned.

"Here, let me hold some of them." Alex offered, and Apollo gladly offloaded the heaviest bag onto him.

"Hm? What's with all the commotion over there?" Trucy put a hand on his eyebrows. "…Hey, that's Jinxie, right?" In the distance, Jinxie was running to them, plate shaking in her hands, face pale. She was stuttering as she arrived.

"I-It's t-t-terrible! Th-Th-Thththth…! The-! The—!"

Trucy placed a hand on her shoulders, which earned a slight wince from her, but she calmed down slightly. "Calm down, Jinxie! Tell us what happened."

"Th-Th-The demon T-Tenma T-Taro… …He killed Alderman Kyubi!"

"Whaaaaat?" Apollo shouted at her, while Alex frowned, he had played the game, he should remember this… right?

Alex ignored the heated conversation between the three, and saw Apollo take off into the mansion. But he wasn't paying attention and began to panic as he realized _he could not remember anything from this part of the game'_.

Alex grabbed the sides of his headset, and yanked it off.

 _"Warning, play session interrupted, it is not advised to pause the play session without forewarni-"_ At that, he also yanked off the headset, and rubbed his eyes.

Why did he not remember anything? He was sure he played it before, but where were his memories of i- ah, there they were.

Alex sat on the couch for a few minutes, slowly recollecting his memory. Then, he grabbed his phone, and called the help-desk number that was on the letter.

 _"Good evening, AEAI help-desk speaking, how can I help you?"_ A female voice answered.

"Yeah, hello. I'm curious about a little aspect of the… playing session, is there any way I can speak with a developer?"

 _"We can schedule an appointment, but we're not sure when there's time, it looks like there's a little hole in two months, or-"_

"Nevermind then! I just need to know if, er, memory issues are normal when playing the… game"

The other side of the line was silent for a moment. _"Memory issues, sir?"_

Alex nodded, and then almost slapped himself as he realized she couldn't see that. "Uh, yes, I couldn't remember when I played the original version of this game a few years ago as I was a few minutes in."

 _"…That's completely normal, that is the AEAI engine trying to adjust your avatar to the world. We had a few people who asked this earlier today, and it's not too abnormal. You will only forget what is critical to the story, nothing else."_

Still perturbed, but nodding in thought, Alex thanked her and ended the call, taking a few minutes and some drinks before he continued.


	2. Picking up

Letting out a breath, Alex put the headphones back on, then the gloves, and then finally, the headset.

He opened his eyes, and blinked a few times. Trucy was hugging Jinxie, who was shivering like a leaf. To his right, the police were rushing into the mansion.

Apollo emerged a few minutes later, looking pretty pale, with the charm still on his forehead.

"T-There's been a murder inside the fox chamber. There were two people, one stabbed, and the other one's out like a light. Thank goodness he was just unconscious, though."

"You think Jinxie will be okay after all of that?" Alex pointed at Jinxie, who was now crushing one of her red charms in her hands.

"I'm sure she'll be back to her old self in no time." Apollo said, confidently.

Jinxie finally seemed to notice them. Taking a deep breath, she held her plate in front of her face, Trucy still trying to calm her down. "…oh. Mr. Witch, …and Mr. Demon Lawyer."

 _'Mr. Witch?'_ Alex pulled a face.

"Heya, Feeling any better? I was wondering if you would want to fill us in on what happened there…"

"S-Sure…"

They stood for a few seconds, Trucy shushing and comforting her, while Alex tried to think of something to say. He turned to Apollo.

"So… what happened, exactly?"

"Well, when I ran inside…"

* * *

 **5 Minutes earlier**

 _'shitshitshitshit…'_

Apollo ran through the mansion's foyer, up the stairs, where Jinxie said she had come from.

He paused when he came into an open door at the end of a hallway. There were… feathers? What?

"Huh…? What…?" Looking around, Apollo saw bloodied paw-prints, blood, _blood_ , there was blood on the tabletop, which was caused by… oh god.

Stepping back, he saw the Alderman laying on the table, eyes rolled back, with a giant spear inside of his chest. _'Holy SHIT, this is not good…'_

Apollo took in the scene in front of him, and let out a small scream of anguish. And _that_ seemed to wake up something- or rather, someone, at the other side of the room.

In the seat across of the table, a man in a green suit and a _very_ bloodied head sat down, their face starting to show signs of waking and pain.

Apollo rushed over to him. "A-Are you alright, sir?"

"Ugh… W-Who are you?" Was all the man could say before he passed out again, and Apollo watched him for a few beats, before he gained his composure.

"HELP! SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!" Apollo shouted back into the hallway.

* * *

"Hmm… Quite a shocker…" Alex mused, scratching his head.

Jinxie was shuddering again, but now at least she looked better, and out of Trucy's hold.

"Who was the man on the seat?" Alex asked Apollo, but Jinxie answered.

"D-Damian Tenma. He's the mayor of the neighboring city, Tenma Town."

Apollo nodded.

"…They arrested him." Jinxie said between sobs.

"Woah! Wait? What!?" Alex and Apollo burst out.

"He's the killer?" Apollo asked.

"Nuh-uh! Papa didn't kill anyone!"

"P-Papa? As in… your father?" Apollo repeated, taken aback.

Trucy chimed in, still rubbing Jinxie's back. "That's right. Jinxie's dad is mayor of Tenma Town."

"No way…" Apollo breathed.

"Wait, hold on. Apollo, you said he was unconscious, right?" Alex frowned.

Apollo rubbed the top of his hair, "Yup. Well, until after I had entered the room."

"And he had a blunt wound on his head?" Alex blinked.

"Also true, where are you going with this?" Apollo asked back.

Alex squinted. "Did you see any weapons or anything nearby?"

"Wha-!? Uh, no, not really, the police dragged me away from the crime scene as soon as they rushed in."

Alex thought for a few more moments. "…Sorry, I just thought of a weird theory"

They stared at him, expecting him to continue, and Alex sighed. "Okay, here goes…"

"So.. Maybe, yes, he stabbed him, and hit himself with a rock or something to make it seem convincing?"

"No."

Jinxie had said that immediately, her eyes seemingly on fire. "Papa does not kill people, he's the best papa anyone can ever have! He only tries to keep peace! He hates blood!"

Alex held up his hands in surrender. "Okay okay, sorry, I just wanted to clear out all the possibilities here."

"Hmph." Jinxie still looked angry, but now held her plate in front of herself again.

Apollo used the awkward silence by asking another question.

"Jinxie, would you mind telling us a little more about the victi- Alderman?"

"His name is- was Rex Kyubi. They say his family has ties to the legendary Nine-Tailed Fox. He was really kind, and he always looked out for me. He was a former pro wrestler, and I even heard he knew The Amazing Nine-Tails personally."

"The amazing Nine-Tails? Who's that?" Alex asked.

"Al, haven't you been paying attention?" Trucy said, "He's the most popular pro wrestler here in Nine-Tails Vale!"

"Wrestler?" Apollo asked.

Jinxie piped up, "Yes! Papa says he's one of the only reasons the two towns haven't merged yet!"

"Woah Woah Woah, merging? Wrestlers?" Alex asked, trying to keep up. "What do you mean about towns merging, Jinxie?"

At that, Jinxie seemed uncertain again. "You gotta ask papa for that, I don't know much myself…"

Apollo seemed to recall something. "Jinxie, when you first told us what happened, you said the killer was a demon, right?"

"Uh-huh. The warding charm on the Forbidden Chamber's door… It's been… removed."

"Huh? Warding charm? On what door?" Alex turned to Apollo.

Apollo nodded, "Yeah, right. When you walk into that room, in the back, there's a _really_ heavy door, with a huge lock on it, but I didn't see any charm."

"That's how Tenma Taro escaped!" Jinxie shouted.

Alex sighed, just what has he gotten himself into now? Oh wait, into one of his first murder investigations, that is.

He blinked, wait a minute, he was playing a _game_ , why is he starting to think like it's… real life, or something?

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Trucy, again.

"Apollo! Alex! Maybe this is your chance!"

"Huh?" "Chance for what?" Apollo and Alex countered respectively.

"To do the right thing and defend Jinxie's dad in court!"

Apollo seemed unsure, "Who, me? Wouldn't a man like Mayor Tenma have access to more experienced lawyers?"

Alex snorted, "What, are you _scaaared_ to face an unknown prosecutor while Mr. Wright will be watching in the gallery?"

"You shut your mouth, Spiegel! Do I have to remind you last time we went into court, you almost hid under the bench for it's entirety, have I not threatened to take your phone in for a week?"

Alex stared open-mouthed at Apollo, he… he did that? Wait… of course, he didn't, but why… ugh, stupid Capcom.

Jinxie spoke up, injecting between the two lawyers. "Umm… You wanna know what the detectives said? They said they 'doubted there was a lawyer who could get a not-guilty verdict in this one'."

"Huh? Why?" Alex asked.

"They're probably expecting it to be an open-and-shut case." Jinxie looked down, a bit deflated.

"Don't worry, Jinxie! If anyone can prove your dad's innocence, it's these two dumb-dumbs!" Trucy said, giving Jinxie's hair a big ruffle.

"Wha-!?" "Hey!" Apollo and Alex exclaimed in defense.

"You two will accept the case, won't you?" Trucy glared at them sweetly.

Jinxie muttered under her breath, shivering, and almost on instinct, Alex placed a hand on his chest… over the symbol.

Alex was taken aback, all of the sudden, he could feel an intense _sadness_ wash over him, he _understood_. If her dad would go to jail, she would not have any family after this, because she already lost her mother… wait, how did he know that?

Taking a huge breath, and waving his hand around like he was shaking off some dirt, he stared at Jinxie, and swallowed.

"I-I…I'll take the case… But only if Apollo will." Alex said, finally.

Apollo looked like he was about to object, but then he too saw Jinxie's teary-eyed face, and caved in. "…Alright, Jinxie, leave your father's defense to us!"

 _'…What the hell was that just then?'_

Cautiously, he placed one finger on the edge of his… symbol, and looked at Jinxie, he still felt an inkling of that sadness just then, but also some relief, fear, and… joy?

Somehow, Alex knew the next words that were to come out of Jinxie's mouth.

 _"You're going to help Papa, Mr. Demon Lawyer…? Mr. Witch?"_

 _'Well, …this is weird._ _ **Beyond**_ _weird, actually.'_ He pinched the bridge of his nose.

While it wasn't needed, he wiped his hands off his pants. "Sure, that's what us lawyers do!" Apollo said, confident.

"T-Thank you! I can tell you both are one of the good ones. Red Demons and Witches are usually very mean…"

Apollo nodded hesitantly. He grabbed a small pocket-book and wrote something in it.

"A notebook?" Alex asked.

"Yup, So we don't forget what to do next!"

Alex grinned. "It's so _you_ don't forget it, you cheese-head!"

"Hey! If there's anyone a cheese-head around here, it's you!" Apollo countered.

"Pffff, true, But more in the literal sense, I guess." Alex said, before grinning again, "You, however, need to get charms to cover all those holes before something falls out of it."

Apollo pouted, and Alex laughed.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Trucy interjected. "So, about Jinxie's father… No matter how scary he seems, promise me, resist the urge to run away!"

"Wait, what?" They both said at the same time.

"His angry glare can paralyze you with fear." Jinxie said.

"And some claim he can even shoot laser beams from his eyes." Trucy added.

"Well, maybe Papa isn't really THAT scary…" Jinxie said, blushing a bit.

Alex snorted. "You're almost making him sound like a Yokai himself." Jinxie let out a small, tentative smile, which caused Alex to grin wider.

"Hm, I think it's about time I see Jinxie off. I'll head back to the office after I'm done!" Trucy said, looking at her phone.

"Alright, thanks!" Apollo said as they watched Trucy and Jinxie (both carrying the souvenir bags) take off.

"So, you, me, coffee?" Apollo suggested. Alex nodded.

* * *

After a (very cheap) coffee break on some bus-stop cafe, they went to the detention center.

Walking in, they visited an officer, who bowed, and led them to one of the visiting rooms. Alex raised one of his eyebrows at the bow as they walked past. _'Odd.'_

"Ah, visiting hours. Perfect timing." Apollo said as he walked through the doorway.

Sitting behind the glass, looking at his hands in front of him, was a man who's head was bandaged with… charms?

 _'Yup, this is Jinxie's dad, alright'_

He looked up as the two sat down, examining each of them before speaking.

"…Who are you two?"

Apollo met a gaze with him, and he broke a sweat. "Y-You're Damian Tenma, right?! I'm, uhh… I'm Apollo Justice, attorney-at-law! And this is my partner, Alex Spiegel! We're here to, uhh… Here to help!"

Mr. Tenma sat silent for a few moments, and then raised an arm.

"Huh?" …and slammed it down on the desk. "AAAAH! S-Sorry! I get a little loud sometimes!"

If it wasn't for the fact Alex was scared too, he might've cracked a joke, but the intense stare Tenma was giving them to made him sink into his seat as low as he could.

"How… incredibly… RUDE!" _'…Huh?'_

"Umm, sorry. Did I do something to offend you?" Apollo seemed more confused than scared now.

"A visitor when all others shun me like a common criminal! And here I am with nothing to offer! I am the epitome of rude!" Tenma shouted.

Perplexed, he looked at Apollo, and had to place a hand on his mouth. _'Apollo's face, oh my god…'_ Alex snorted.

"Unworthy as I am, I, Damian Tenma, shall breach these walls… so that I may treat my benefactor to some tea, …and maybe some cookies, too." Mr. Tenma added after placing one hand on his chin.

"No, wait! We can do tea and cookies after we prove your innocence!" Apollo said, shaken out of his stupidor.

"Hmmm… I see. So tea and cookies can wait, can they?" Tenma mused, now closing his eyes as he rubbed his chin.

Alex pulled his hand from his grin and chuckled, "Yes, Mr. Tenma, and we aren't offended at all by the absence of refreshment."

"Hmmmm…" Tenma looked thoughtful, and hummed quietly.

Alex put one elbow on the table, and a hand under his head, confident. Apollo was staring at him with wide eyes.

"So, Mayor Tenma… you're a mayor, right?" Alex asked.

Tenma nodded. "Yes, I am the major of Tenma Town. A sweet little town our ancestors founded many decades ago.", he paused, before slamming the table, which earned another little scream from Apollo. "I will not sit here while my Citizens need me! I must get out of this cage at once!"

"M-Mayor Tenma! I'm sure your citizens will understand if you are away for a couple of days. Just, p-please don't break out…?" Apollo hoped he could convince the man to not break out, hopefully.

"Hmmm… in any case, my town is one of my pride and joy's in this world, next to Jinxie…"

Mr. Tenma looked pensive for a moment.

"Mr… Justice, was it?" He asked, turning to look at Apollo.

"Yes?" Apollo asked, straightening his tie.

"Forgive me, but… could you please do me a favor?" Tenma looked… pensive, now, and was looking down at the desk, so they couldn't see his face.

"…Sure, what is it?" Apollo inquired, having calmed down a little.

"My daughter… Jinxie, she already lost her mother, and now with me being held in here, I fear she would feel incredibly lonely…"

Alex stared at the man with an open mouth, so he was correct! What… What happened back there, then?

"…I beg of you, please be a friend to her, while I cannot, in this time of difficulty." Tenma asked, raising his head to look at them in pleading eyes.

Alex was quicker than Apollo. "Don't worry, Mr. Tenma. She already has Trucy, and I'm sure we will, er, help her feel better in no time!"

"…Yeah! Leave it to us! We and Trucy will look out for your daughter!" Apollo added.

"Then, I shall rest a little easier tonight. Even though I have had a glimpse of my new bed when I came in, it's sturdiness will be no match against the comfort of knowing my daughter has made a few new friends." Tenma nodded, statisfied.

Apollo nodded, Alex gave him a thumbs up. Tenma flashed a slight smile.

"Now, if you would excuse me, it appears my time is up." A guard had approached, and was tapping the Mayor's shoulder.

They watched him being walked out of the other side of the room, and shared a silence.

"…I have a feeling we forgot something." Apollo said, staring at the glass.

"What, Motive? Arrest?" Alex counted on his fingers.

Apollo smacked his forehead, and groaned. "Right…"

"Don't look so down, we can all gather it from the case file, right?" Alex grabbed said case file from his backpack, "And I'm sure the prosecutor tomorrow will be more than happy to explain us the juicy details of his arrest, and remind us of the motive every 6 minutes or so."

Alex looked up, only to see his colleague looking up at him in a pained expression. "…yeah."

Their stare was broken by a ringtone from Apollo's pocket. "Hm? Oh! That must be Mr. Wright!"

"Put it on speaker." Alex said as Apollo fished his phone from his pocket.

 _"Apollo, is that you?"_

"Hi, Mr. Wright! Yes, it's us. What can we do for you?" Apollo said, lively again the first time after discovering the murder.

 _"'Us'? Wait, is Alexander with you?"_

"Yup!" Apollo said. "Right here."

"Sup?" Alex casually asked over the phone.

 _"Alright, that makes this easier, then. Trucy told me you've taken a new case, correct?"_

"Oh, yeah. It was kind-of spur of the moment." Apollo said, rubbing his neck.

"And a lot of begging from Trucy's end." Alex chimed in, Apollo gave him a look.

 _"That's fine, gotta keep the office busy. But I have a favor to ask."_

"Sure, what is it?"

 _"I'm at the airport right now. There was someone I had to meet. A new addition to the agency, actually. Her name's Athena Cykes, and she just passed the bar."_

Alex froze.

Athena Cykes.

 _Oh._

Scratching his head (and ignoring Apollo's stare), he thought about her. While he still suffered from a memory loss, and couldn't think of anything what would happen during this game, he _did_ remember bits and pieces.

 _'…Shit'_ He remembered nothing about her past, and that was reason enough to suspect he was about to fall into some deep end of tragedy.

 _"Y'know, she took off as soon as I told her you needed help with a case. It was like there was no stopping her."_ Phoenix said over the phone, unaware to Alex's reaction.

Alex snorted, of course she would. …right?

"Wait, What? Where is she now?" Apollo turned his attention back to the phone.

 _"Let's see, she took off an hour or so ago, so… she should be somewhere in Nine-Tails Vale by now."_

Apollo groaned.

 _"And that is where that favor I mentioned comes in, I need you two to go find her."_

"But I've never even met her before. What does she look like?" Apollo asked.

"…she wears stuff with red, blue and yellow, Especially yellow." Alex said without thinking, still lost in thought.

There was a silence.

 _'Oops'_

"U-Uh…" He turned around, Apollo was staring at him, Phoenix wasn't saying anything.

 _"I didn't know you knew Athena, Alex."_

"I-I don't, actually, but I have seen her somewhere on television before, I think." Alex lied through his teeth.

Another silence. Apollo rubbed his wrist.

Phoenix cleared his throat. _"Right, Anyway, she does indeed have a yellow suit last time I saw her, and her new attorney's badge."_

"Alright, We'll find her!" Apollo ended the call.

All the way back to Nine-tails vale, Apollo was staring at Alex all the way, and he became a bit uncomfortable with it.

Nearing their stop, Alex snapped.

"What?"

Apollo said nothing, and stopped staring.

"…Nothing, it's nothing." He said, Alex wasn't convinced.

They both exited the bus, and walked into the busy street, when they were about to enter the street leading to the Manor, Alex grabbed Apollo's sleeve.

"What? What is it?" Apollo asked, Alex pointed into the alleyway they had stopped in front of.

"I. Already. Told. You! I'm a lawyer assigned to the case!" They heard in the distance.

"Wait, is that-" "Yes" Apollo was about to ask, but Alex cut him off.

Apollo stared at the girl in the distance, she was currently arguing with a policeman, and had both her hands balled up into fists.

"I need to study the crime scene, so if you would please tell me where Kyubi Manor is…!"

The policemen grabbed the front of his hat, and stared down at Athena, obviously irritated.

"You can't fool me! You're just some delinquent high school student playing hooky! Scram! This isn't a classroom!" He said, waving one hand away dismissively.

"You stupid, pig-headed…! This attorney's badge isn't just for show, you know!" She grabbed the side of her shirt, where a golden badge was pinned.

Alex grinned. "Well, sometimes it is…" he whispered to Apollo, who chuckled, despite the circumstances.

"Should we move over to her before things get bad?" Apollo asked, curious, Alex nodded.

"So, I'll ask, do you know Ms. Cykes from somewhere?" He continued.

Alex almost froze, "…No, but I can say I've probably seen her on a screen before." _'At least that is not a lie, exactly…'_

Apollo opened his mouth to retort, but he was interrupted by the policeman, who had become very agitated at Ms. Cykes.

"That's it! Enough of your lies! You're coming with me!" He leaned forward to grab Athena by the shoulders.

"Aaah! Get your hands off of me!"

Before they knew what was happening, the policeman was flying through the air… into their direction.

Alex, having won more than enough dodge-ball games in school, instinctively dodged to the right. But that didn't stop a stray boot from the officer's long leg to smash into his face, breaking one of his glasses' frames.

Apollo, however, was worse off.

He got the entire man on his back, slamming him into the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

He let out a groan from underneath the 150 pounds of champion donut-eater, while Alex moved away from the boot, and pulled his glasses from his face.

 _'…That's going into the memoir as "most unique encounter" for sure'_ He grabbed his bag, and placed the glasses inside the case, grabbing his older backup glasses from the bottom of the bag.

"Whoops! Are you two alright?" Athena ran over, hands in front of her face.

"Well, while got temporal impaired eyesight, he has temporal locomotive immobility." Athena stared at him, and blinked.

Alex flashed her a grin. "We'll be fine"

He was pulling (a very disgruntled) Apollo underneath the unconscious officer, when Athena apologized behind him.

"I am SO sorry! I do that when people suddenly grab me. It's like a reflex or something."

Apollo looked up, trying to form his hair back into proper shape, "You're Athena Cykes, I take it?"

"Huh? Oh! Yes! That would be me, and you are…?" She pointed one finger in his direction, and squinted.

"Apollo Justice, nice to meet you. Ah!" He said, arching his back and letting out a whimper when something snapped.

Alex waited to make sure hadn't broken, and then looked towards Athena, holding out one hand, "Alexander Spiegel, call me Alex. Also nice to meet you. We both work at the Wright Anything Agency." She nodded, and shook the hand.

"The Writing Anything Agency? Sounds fishy."

"No no no, not"Writing","Wright", with a 'G-H-T'" Apollo cleared up, still having one hand on his back.

"Oh, THAT Wright! So then you must be- Where have you been?! I've been looking all over you!" Her demanor made a turn, and now she was looking at them in irritation.

"…you must be talking about Apollo, nice to know Phoenix remembers me sometimes…" Alex muttered.

Wait, where did THAT come from?

Athena huffed, and her irritation cleared away, "So you are… Apollo? Are you Alexander's colleague?"

"…Yes, I'm actually his senior."

"Nice! Pleased to meet you!" Athena held out a hand, and Apollo shook it.

Apollo then cleared his throat. "So, As Mr. Wright hasn't said much about you… or anything at all… could you maybe tell a little bit about yourself, Ms. Cykes?"

"…Of course, feel free to ask away!" Athena said, gesturing around with her arms.

 _'She sure is lively, alright.'_


	3. Making friends

"So, Athena, what do you do for a living?" Alex asked.

Athena's cheeks puffed up. "What? I'm a lawyer, of course!"

Alex flinched. "Uh, I meant besides that, of course. What do you do as a hobby?"

Apollo stared at him.

Athena was silent for a few seconds. "Oh! U-Uh, not much, actually. I Jog a bunch, maybe mess around with widget here, or study." She said, her hand poking at her earring. "Or, well, that's what I _did_ , now I'm a full-fledged lawyer! Ready for a trial!"

"Hold on a second, 'Widget'?" Apollo asked.

"Yup! That's my little _companheiro_ here." And Athena showed off her necklace, a small futuristic metal ball with a smiley face on it's display.

"Huh…" Apollo stared at the little device.

"He helps me a bunch with my psychology work!" Athena said, proud.

"Heh, I'm sure he was really helpful during exams, too." Alex murmured.

Athena's face paled, and widget's display turned to yellow, and then to red.

"How dare you! I'll have you know that I was top of my class each year, I even skipped a few ones too!"

Alex hid a smile behind his hand. "Sure…"

Athena looked like she was about to blow up, but then calmed down, looking embarrassed. "W-Wait, oh, you were just joking around." And she flashed her smile again.

"Hold on, Athena. Psychology?" Apollo asked, confused.

"Yup! Analytical Psychology, to be exact. It'll prevent any incorrect verdicts!" Athena flashed a smile. _'She looks so certain about it, wow.'_

"Really? …How, exactly?" Apollo was not convinced, and narrowed his eyes.

"…Um, well, for example: I can try to listen to the witness' inner voice, and then analyze their state of mind with widget!" Athena said, poking at her earring again.

"Wait, really? Widget can do that?" Apollo's eyes widened, and he looked down at the device.

"Yup! Say hi, widget!"

 **"HI WIDGET!"**

Apollo was absolutely flabbergasted. "IT TALKS?"

Athena mumbled something, frowning. "Um, anyway, yeah, this little guy here will sometimes say what I'm feeling."

Alex grinned again. "Does that 'sometimes' translate to 'at the most inconvenient time possible'?"

Athena stared at him for a long while, before answering. "Uh, well, yes, if you put it like that… You'll get used to it, though!"

"I _seriously_ doubt that." Apollo commented under his breath.

"So! What about our client?" Athena clapped her hands together.

"Oh yeah, you haven't met him yet, well…" Apollo said, looking a bit uncomfortable.

Everything went black.

 _'Huh? what's happening?'_

He was about to move, look around, till the darkness went away, and he saw Apollo and Athena again, only was the latter moved to the brink of tears.

"…and that about sums it up. …are you crying?" Apollo finished his explanation, but then looked up at Athena.

"I-I'm not crying! There was something in my eye!" Athena exclaimed, widget turning from blue to red.

"A-Alright, no need to get so defensive on me!" He held his hands up in defense, and took a few steps back.

 _'It happened again, the time-skip, hmmm…'_

"Moving right along, let's get down to business! Let's go help our client!" Athena continued, looking fine again, widget having turned a light blue.

"Yeah, and we _really_ oughta be somewhere else when this officer wakes up…" Apollo mumbled, looking at the officer with a hand under his chin.

At that comment, the rest shared a glance at the officer, who still hasn't woken up.

"Okay, let's go!" Athena said, while she took a few steps in the direction of the alley exit.

Walking out of the small street and onto a more busy side-lane, Athena reached into her bag.

"I almost forgot. I bought something you might be interested in it." She handed Apollo a newspaper.

"I got it on my way here, think it might've something to do with our case?" Athena looked over Apollo's shoulder.

"What is it, Apollo?" Alex asked, being distracted by the merchandise around him.

Apollo's squinted at the small lettering, "It's a special edition… covering our case? That's quick."

Athena rolled her eyes, "Well, duh. That's the whole point of special editions, isn't it?"

"Right… anyway, it says here…"Tenma Taro was seen…" wha–? He was seen flying through the sky?!" At that, Alex turned around.

"Wait what? Give me that!" Alex snatched the newspaper out of Apollo's hands, and looked at the front page. Apollo and Athena looked over his shoulder, having stopped in the middle of the street.

"'An airborne figure resembling Tenma Taro was captured on camera around 3:40 PM near nine-tails vale.' Look! There's even a photo!" Alex said, pointing a finger at the photo.

"Why did you read the subtitle instead of the actual title?" Apollo asked, looking said photo.

"Because at first glance, it had more truth and facts in it than the actual title. Never trust a title which has exclamation or question marks in it. Or both." Alex mused, Apollo shook his head.

"Who's 'Tenma Taro'? Wait, he's not our client, is he?" Athena asked.

Alex looked up. "Huh? No! Tenma Taro is a… Yokai, a supernatural monster. Apparently they live around here."

"Yokai? _Mein Gott!_ What if… Tenma Taro actually committed that murder! A supernatural murder!" Athena sounded almost giddy at that.

"What? Of course not! That's nonsense!" Apollo blurted out. "I-I mean, there were feathers, of course, but it's not like yokai monsters are real!"

"Feathers!? Where?" _'Oh crap, good job Apollo, now you've inspired the most hyper imaginative out of us all here.'_

"A-At the crime scene-" Apollo stuttered.

"Well come on then! Let's get to that crime scene already!" Athena sprinted off into one direction, but Alex and Apollo just watched her go.

A few moments later, she emerged from the crowd. Alex held a smug smile while he was stuffing the newspaper into his bag.

"U-Um, where's the manor?" She asked, embarrassed.

Alex jabbed one thumb into a direction, before Athena sprouted a quick _"Thank you!"_ and took off.

Apollo sighed.

"I swear… how many days before I'll get a mental breakdown from her?" He asked, half-joking.

"Hmmmm, I'm not sure, actually. I thought it was prosecutor Gavin who got more easily under your skin." Alex said, while he pretended to be fiddling with his bag, hiding a grin.

 _That_ got Apollo ticked off.

"You take that back, you-!"

Alex, laughing, began running into the direction of the Manor. And with an angry red lawyer in pursuit, they made the scene of the street.

* * *

Apollo gave up keeping up with him a little while ago, but Alex continued with a slow jog in the direction of the manor's front door, seeing Athena doing something with widget's holographic display.

He turned around, and saw Apollo hobbling in the garden, using the hedge as support… which gave out under him, and he temporarily was eaten up by that hedge.

Finally arriving, he gave Alex the death glare, sticks and leafs all over his hair and suit, while Alex only grinned.

Athena gave them a confused look. Alex shrugged, but couldn't wipe off the smile on his face.

"Well, anyway, we're here. Shall we?" Alex said while opening the door, only to find it locked. "Huh?"

Now it was Athena that was grinning at him. "You think I didn't try that earlier?" Her grin disappeared into her ever-present smile. "Know how to get in?"

"Huh? Oh sure. We just… call Jinxie!" Alex said, unsure.

"Who's Jinxie?" Athena asked, curious. Alex ignored her, and then called Trucy. Getting Jinxie's contact info from her, he ended the call and punched in the number.

 _"Y-Yes? Who's this?"_

"Hey Jinxie! We're at- huh?" Alex looked at his phone, Jinxie had hung up.

He called him again.

 _"S-Sorry, Mr. Witch, I'm just not used to… d-demons calling me, even probably good ones like you…"_

Next to him, Athena was coughing into her fist. But widget betrayed that she was trying to hide a laugh. Alex rolled his eyes.

"It's fine. So, we were calling you because we're at the front door of the manor right now, and we need to investigate the crime scene. Do you know any way to get in?"

Alex waited for an answer.

"Jinxie?"

 _"H-Huh? Oh, uh, sure. The key is normally under the mat in front of the door, but since the key demon had taken our last key…"_ He was sure he could hear a shudder over the phone. _"U-Uhm, we do have another emergency key, it's… in the lamp post… to the far right of the door…"_

He looked over, there were indeed two lamp posts on either side of the garden, but they were _high_.

"Alright, uh… do you know how to get them?"

 _"Normally we have a ladder for that, but since all of them are used for the festival… we don't have any around here."_

He groaned, but still replied.

"Well, thanks, Jinxie!"

 _"N-No problem, Mr. Witch Lawyer…"_ The call ended.

"Jinxie is a tad timid, isn't she? Also, what's with the whole 'Witch' thing?" Athena asked, obviously trying not to laugh again.

"She's a bit delusional, she thinks Apollo is a Demon, too…"

Athena leaned forward in interest, her hands in her side. Alex groaned.

"Ugh, I'll introduce her to you sometime, okay? Right now, we need to get that key." He pointed up to the lamp on the lamp-post.

"W-What? How do we get it from up _there_?" Apollo said and paled.

"You know what they say! 'Where there's a will, there's a way'!" Athena punched her fist in her other hand, looking determined.

Apollo gulped.

* * *

One bad idea and three minutes later, Apollo was currently trying to keep Alex's mountain boots on his shoulders. While Alex was balancing with the pole.

Then Athena tried to climb them.

"Come on!" "Ow! You're standing on my foot!" "My shoulder is about to buckle!" "No no, it isn't! Woah!"

Apollo and Alex fell into a pile of groans.

* * *

"Just a little bit higher, guys!" Athena said, placing one boot on Apollo's shoulder.

"We're trying! Did you ever think about being a little bit lighter next time?" Apollo said, disgruntled.

"…WHAT!?"

"HOLD IT! Alex! Athena! Just let this be over with!" Alex said from above Apollo, holding himself to the pole, while Athena muttered under her breath, and pressed one boot on his shoulder.

Athena reached into the lamp, after opening a little door, and grabbed a little key.

"Wooo! Got it!"

"Athena, don't pump your fists in the air like that, we're gonna fall! Athen-AAAAAAAH!"

They fell, again. But this time, there was some yellow in the mix.

* * *

Dusty and with clothes full of wrinkles, the group of lawyers returned to the door, looking a bit bruised, or in Athena's case, with ruined hair.

They entered the foyer. It looked pretty cozy, there was a small office cornered off in one side, and a small sitting area in another, right in front of them were stairs leading up to a grinning old man in a painting before taking a turn and disappearing into the side.

"Do you hear that? Is that a TV?" Athena asked.

"Hm? I don't hear anything." Apollo said, trying to get his "horns" back into shape.

"Oh yeah, right. There's a TV in this room over here, listen." She pointed to the small office.

 _"-In other news… The mysterious masked wrestler The Amazing Nine-Tails, has been confirmed missing according to sources close to the wrestler. It appears he disappeared sometime after the special event held in Nine-Tails Vale today. He also failed to appear at a match today where he was scheduled to defend his title. Local villagers say his disappearance may be connected with Tenma Taro's recent escape."_

"Hm, so that wrestler has gone missing-" Apollo mused, but was interrupted.

"Hey! You suspicious lot! Ya don't belong in here!"

They almost jumped a few feet in the air, in the doorway was a stout, short man with a yellow small hat, looking very angry.

Apollo tried to counter, "Don't worry, there's nothing suspicious-"

"What about them there horns o' yours? They look mighty suspicious if ya ask me!"

Alex stepped in, "Now now, Mr… caretaker, we were only here to-"

"To break in! Why else did you get through the front door?"

Alex put on a confused face, "We- Huh? Why would we go through the front door if we want to steal something?"

"Huh? Well, er… because a thief always breaks in at the spots where they least expect it?"

"What…?" Apollo shook his head. "A-Anyway, we're not thieves, we're lawyers. And we came here to-"

"Ah! You're them lawyers come to defend Mayor Tenma, ain't ya?!" The old man suddenly smiled, and he stopped pulling on that scarf around his neck.

 _'Woah, his entire demeanor changed.'_

The old man chuckled. "Shoulda reckoned what with that expensive-looking bracelet ya got there. The name's Phineas Filch. I'm the caretaker here. Pleased to meetcha."

 _'What… why do you assume based of expensive things…?'_

"Um, same here." Apollo blurted out, adjusting his tie.

"Woah, talk about a quick change of heart." Athena, next to him, commented.

"Indeed, Athena, I'm not so sure with this guy…" Alex said back.

"So, tell me, Demon Lawyer! ( _"W-What?"_ ) Betcha use them demonic horns of yours to scare the bejeebers outta witnesses, huh? Come here, ya lil' horned devil, you!" Filch gave him a quick pat on the back and shoulder.

"H-Hey! These Ho- uh, I mean, my hair isn't meant to threaten anyone!"

"They ain't?" Filch seemed disappointed, "Seems a mighty big waste o' perfectly good horns if ya ask me. Then again, ain't none o' my business, so…"

Apollo sighed.

"Man, talk about impressions…" Alex mused, but Athena wasn't listening.

"Well, I'd best get back to work!" Filch walked out of the door, until…

 ** _"HOLD IT!"_**

" _Halt_! Stop it right there!" She strode over to the door, and with one rather long arm, pulled Filch back into the foyer.

"H-Huh? Me?" Filch was bewildered, and almost lost his scarf.

"Yes, you! Apollo, your bracelet's gone!"

"…Ah!" Apollo rubbed at his wrist, and indeed, the piece of jewellery was gone.

"Don't ya worry, Mr. Lawyer, sir! I'll check the lost 'n' found later!" Filch offered up with a grin treating to split his face.

Alex sighed while looking at Filch his hands rubbing together, and then his ar- _Wait a minute!_

"Mr. Filch, I don't think that will be necessary." He shoved Athena out of the way, and grabbed his arm, and held it up, where a shiny bracelet had appeared.

"Aaaaah! The cat's outta the bag!"

"That was pretty pathetic. Mr. Filch, give back Apollo's bracelet, _right now!_ " Alex snarled in his face.

Wordlessly, Filch handed over his bracelet, and then suddenly burst out into tears.

"S-Sorry! I'm sooooooooooo sorry! I just couldn't control myself! Please, please forgive me! I'm beggin' you."

Alex glanced at him, and then felt a tug on his chest. _'What…?'_

He looked down, the symbol was just there as ever, but underneath, he could feel a… _pressure_ on his chest, and without thinking, he held his hand there.

Immediately Alex got that weird feeling again, but this time, he could identify it a bit.

He felt… floaty, for the lack of a better word. While he knew consciously he was standing firmly on the ground, he himself wasn't feeling "present", but instead, he was looking at Mr. Filch.

The way he reacted over-dramatically at the exposure, the way he had "noticed" Apollo at first from his bracelet, and his general flattery-like demeanor right after they revealed to be lawyers…

 _'Mr. Filch wasn't sorry, he was trying to suck up.'_

Forcing his hands away from his chest, Alex took a deep breath before clearing his throat.

"Mr. Filch." Alex got his attention. "You're not sorry, please don't take us for idiots. We're not here to get insulted by one of the caretakers of this crime sc- Manor, so please, unless you're genuinely sorry, please leave us be."

"B-B-B-But Mr. Lawyer! You must understand! I'm really, gen-ua-ly sorry!" Alex cringed. _'…Ouch, did he really just pronounce "genuinely" like that?'_

"Y-You see, I'm slightly kleptomaniac! I-I can't help me-self, you see?" Filch looked desperate, and was not wiggling his eyebrows at that explanation.

Athena thought for a moment. "Hmmm, kleptomaniacs usually have no idea of their surroundings while stealing, and so often do it subconsciously, so…"

"Hehehe, I _knew_ you would understand, Ms. Lawyer Ma'am, I just knew it! You obviously got a big heart! Probably just as big as the wallet used to buy that suit, eh?"

"Hey! You leave my money out of this!"

Filch walked up to her. "Ho HO!"

"…Why you- GIVE ME MY WALLET BACK, YOU CREEP!"

"Ah! Run away, Run for the hills!" And Mr. Filch ran out of the door, while Athena stood inside the door-post, shouting profanities.

Alex tried to calm her down, "Easy, Athena, we can easily charge him with theft. There's even a camera here for that." And Alex pointed at the camera he had first noticed when they came in here.

Athena calmed down, now looking at the camera, shaking her fist to it one last time before putting her hands in her sides, and pushed a smile.

"…Hm? Looks like he dropped a few things." Athena glanced at the ground, and multiple items that were previously not there, had appeared there.

Apollo picked them up, "…that's weird, this is like a diagram… _multiple_ diagrams! Where did he get these from?" He pressed one closer to his face, trying to understand what's on them.

"Hey look, these must be his shoes." Athena commented, holding his shoes up a few feet away from her, disgust evidently present on her face. "…Ew"

Alex shook his head. "That guy fits the description of 'Stumbling thief' better than anyone I've ever seen…"

They studied the diagrams for a moment, Athena having placed the shoes as far away from her as possible.

"Let's hang on to his shoes for now, maybe when he comes searching for them, he'll give back my wallet. As for the diagrams, let's keep them, they look useful." Athena said, taking a look at the diagrams one by one.

Apollo blinked, "They kinda look like police drawings, any idea where he got them from?"

"Nope." Alex said. "Maybe… one of the officers that were investigating here?"

"Hm." Apollo handed one of the diagrams over to Athena, while he put the other one in his bag.

* * *

They entered the chamber, Alex first.

Athena looked at the scene with wide eyes.

"Wow! Where did all these feathers and weird tracks come from?"

"Hell if I know, popular opinion says that it's Tenma Taro." Alex said, staring at the middle of the room.

"You mean that Yokai? The great evil?" Athena pressed.

"Pffff, even if he did it, we'd be laughed out of the courtroom trying to indict him." Apollo said with a wave of dismissal.

"Hey, you! Who are you and what are you doing here, this a crime scene!" A voice said.

A… very _white-dressed_ police officer stepped from behind them, and came into view. He had orange aviators and short, slightly curled brown hair.

"Who are YOU? Are you with the police?" Apollo asked.

"Hey, I asked first! …actually, on second thought, I'm placing you under arrest for disturbing a crime scene!" He said, producing a pair of handcuffs.

"Ack! Under arrest?! B-But, but-" Apollo stuttered.

"Shut it! Save it for the boys uptown! Now, I don't want to be late for lunch…!"

He leaned forward and was about to grab Apollo by the wrist, before Athena stepped in.

"Wait, wait! We're the mayor's lawyers!"

The man looked confused for a second, then smiled, "Oh! Well why didn't you just say so! So you're the lawyers I heard about. Ha ha ha! I almost took you two in! You two sure look suspicious, though!"

 _'Ugh… this guy is surely going to be a pain in the ass or two… wait, why don't I remember him?'_

Frowning at the thought, he looked up.

"Sorry, we didn't catch your name…yet." Alex said, still frowning.

"My name? I'm Bobby Fulbright!" He exclaimed, and saluted.

 _'Bobby Fulbright, eh? Hmmmm, now I'm curious…'_

Fulbright was running his mouth about himself, while Alex was trying to dig up a memory of him, but nothing came up…

"…And my catchphrase? It's 'In justice we trust!'" Fulbright said, while saluting again.

 _'…! Oh, right, of course, why not…'_ he _did_ remember that catchphrase, just not the context of it.

"Hoooo boy…" Apollo commented.

"I feel you, Apollo…" Alex said.

"So!" Fulbright stood with his fists in his sides, before he hailed one up to his forehead in a salute, _again_. "What can I do for you!?"


	4. Slipping up

Alex was the first one to come up with a question. "Bobby Fulbright? Are you new? I've never heard of you before."

Fulbright laughed. "That's because I had been assigned in another district before being reassigned to this one, Crime never sleeps, you see? And so does Justice!"

That namesake snorted at the comment, and Alex held a hand in front of his mouth to hide his grin. Ooooh, this is going to be fun.

"And you're assigned to this crime scene, correct?" Athena asked.

"Correct! Once the prosecutor's office heard of this peculiar crime, they put my partner on it, and he himself immediately sent me off to investigate it. 'No lazying around', he said."

"Sounds like a no-nonsense prosecutor." Apollo mused, then his face fell. "And if we believe Mr. Wright, those are also usually the most persistent ones…"

"'Wright'? As in… that agency?" Fulbright asked, blinking.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! We're from the Wright Anything Agency."

"Pleased to meet you! I've heard all sorts of stories from that place from the precinct, you guys are handing out some good Justice!"

Alex snorted, and Apollo sent him a glare, before turning to Fulbright.

"Actually, detective, my na-" "Detective, can we inspect the crime scene!?" Alex cut in, wanting his joke to last a little longer.

"Absolutely not! No unauthorized personnel allowed!" He replied, pushing his glasses up.

"Couldn't you maybe make a exception for us? Because we're the Mayor's lawyers?"

"Cease and desist at once! Or you'll have to deal with my little friend here!" Fulbright said, albeit a little dramatically, before reaching to something on his belt.

 _'Oh shit, is he reaching for his-'_

"In justice we trust!" He had pulled out his badge, which flapped down quite anticlimactically, and showed them a picture of him saluting on camera, and his yellow detective badge.

They let out a collective breath, seems like everyone had been expecting something worse, like a gun.

"You may be Mayor Tenma's attorneys, but you still need authorization to cross a police line!"

"But we're asking you exactly that…"

"…Official authorization, I mean. The law is the law."

"So… you're saying we are unjust for the task?" Athena asked, a little smug smile on her lips.

"That's right! Only the just and righteous can investigate this crime scene!"

"But then how exactly do you know you're Just yourself? We could as well be Justice warriors like you, looking for the truth."

Fulbright's face fell, and he started sweating.

"B-But wait, how-" "How do you know you're doing Justice's work for protecting the crime scene, but also keeping us out, you mean?" Athena combo'd. Apollo was switching gazes between her and Fulbright, some surprise clearly on his face.

The detective broke down, grabbing his head. "Ohhhh… Who's Justice is more just? Am I just? Ohh…. lady Justice…"

Alex held back a snicker, and tapped Athena and Apollo on the shoulder, gesturing to the crime scene. "Come, it'll be a few minutes before he realizes he can ask for identification to verify we're really 'Justice warriors'. Either that, or just showing your ID will be enough, Apollo." Alex grinned, Apollo was not amused.

First of all, they gently guided Fulbright out of the room, while he was still muttering things about Justice and whatnot, then they walked back into the room, but Apollo put out an arm before them.

"Alright, when you first walk into this room, what is the first thing you notice?" He asked.

Athena squinted, Alex shrugged and said, "The tracks, and if the feathers were still airborne, those too."

"Right, so lets look at them last." Athena blinked.

"Wait, why?"

Apollo explained. "Because if we look at those first, and draw conclusions from them, our view will be just a little bit tainted when we look at the rest of the evidence. The most obvious things are often fabricated." Athena poked her ear-ring, and nodded.

Alex was impressed, normally in the game you just touched everything, and there were no repercussions for doing things in a wrong order.

They walked to the walls of the room, trying to find anything out of place.

Athena pointed at the spears on the right side. "Hey, where are these for?"

Alex turned around from the trophies. "Hmmm? Oh, those are probably for decoration."

"Really? They look really sharp…" Athena reached out to one of the tips with her fingers. "Ow! _Sheiße!_ "

"Well, we now know they're sharp…" Apollo deadpanned as Athena sucked on one of her fingers.

"Hmmm…" Alex opened the window, and saw something stuck in the window frame. "Hm? Guys, I found something." He held a little tuft of golden fur for them to see, Apollo squinted at it. "Fur? Does the Alderman have a pet fox?"

"That would be pretty cute." Athena said. Alex shrugged and walked outside to ask for a evidence bag from the good Detective to put the fur in.

"Anything interesting in that air-vent up there, maybe?" Athena asked, looking up to said vent.

Apollo stood besides her. "Don't think so, it's 9 feet tall."

"Well, unless you want to do that pillar thing again…"

Apollo held up his hands. "No way, not that again."

"Not what again?" Alex asked, having gotten 10 or so evidence bags to put stuff in.

Apollo opened his mouth, but his partner decided to start teasing him. "Well, Apollo said he'd be too short to climb up this vent, because it's about 9 feet up."

"I did not say that!"

"But you can't deny you didn't _imply_ it, Mr. _Justice_." Athena finished with a shit-eating grin. Apollo steamed for a few more seconds before sulking in a corner. Alex shared his grin with Athena.

Apollo walked around restless for a few more seconds before arriving to the middle of the room.

"Alright, to heck with it, brainstorm over the tracks?" The rest nodded, and sat besides him.

"So, what do these look like?" Alex asked.

"Some giant bird, or a… raccoon? I'm not very good with prints." Apollo said, squinting at one.

"They're not raccoon's, or a bird, or… any print, for that matter." Athena mused. The others stared at her, and she averted her gaze in embarrassment, muttering something about her family in Europe.

Apollo shook his head. "So we can assume these are fabricated? Or at least, not natural?"

"Well, of course they're not natural, the murderer was a Yokai, of course!" She burst out.

"Try to convince that to the court…" Apollo sighed, and stood up.

"The prints got us nowhere, what about… the feathers?"

"Same thing. They indicate they're from a bird, maybe it being black has some meaning?" Alex scratched the back of his neck.

"Should we take one with us for testing?" Athena asked, picking one up.

"Sure, why not." And he placed one in one of the bags as well.

"So… over there, the Alderman was found." Apollo pointed to one of the white outlines.

"And the other one? Who's that?" Athena looked at the outline which appeared to be sitting in the chair.

"The Mayor, he was unconscious when I came in."

"Oh, right…"

"What's that cloth doing under the other armchair?" Alex asked, and was already walking towards it.

"No clue, …maybe you shouldn't pull on it, too." Apollo added, and Alex stopped trying to pull it out, and instead sheepishly looked around. "…Hm? What's this?"

He walked over to the other chair, and held up a bloodied statue of the Nine-Tailed Fox and Tenma Taro battling.

"Yuk, it has gotten blood on it." Athena said with a face of disgust. "…Wait, Alexander! It has blood on it!"

"Indeed, is it the Alderman's blood?" Alex said, spinning the statue around.

"How can you be so calm after seeing all this blood?"

Alex froze. _'Because I know this isn't real, Athena.'_

"Uhhh… I've seen more blood than this, and I'm a lawyer, so I deal with this stuff all the time."

"…No offense, Alex, but before, you wouldn't even investigate a crime scene with me."

Alex shrugged, trying to appear calm.

Athena broke the tense air with a small outburst. "Hey! No fun at all! You two should at least act grossed out or something on my very first case! How else would this be memorable to me?"

Alex chuckled, and put the statue (with some difficulty) into an evidence bag.

"Hey guys… do you hear something?" Athena said, head tilted in concentration.

"Hm? …I don't hear anything." "…me neither"

"Oh, right. Your hearing must not be as sensitive as mine."

"Um, what are you talking about?" Apollo asked, a little weirded out.

Athena closed her eyes, and concentrated on the sound.

"A whooshing sound, like wind rushing through a narrow strait. And the echo of someone's voice… 'In… In…'"

 **"IN JUSTICE WE TRUST!"**

 _"AAAAH!"_

Fulbright laughed, apparently having recovered from his breakdown.

"Well well well, Someone's got a sharp set of ears! What you heard right there, that was the sound of my righteous voice reverberating through that air duct!"

Athena was rubbing her ears, from tinnitus, probably.

"Air ducts? I heard it through the air ducts?"

"But why would she hear you through there?" Apollo said, looking at said air-duct.

Alex snickered. "So for a moment, it wasn't a air-duct, it was an _'ear-duct'_ " It earned some groans from Apollo, and a laugh from Fulbright. After a second, he grabbed a diagram from his inner pocket.

"Why don't we go through the diagram? As you can see, that vent is connected to an air duct that leads out into the hallway! The wind must've rushed through there… and carried my monologue with it straight to your ears!"

"An unique monologue, for sure… Hey! Maybe the killer made their escape through that air duct!"

Fulbright chuckled. "A cute theory, but I don't think so. The air duct in the hallway is low enough to climb into, that much is true. But as you can see, the vent in the ceiling is very high. 9 feet high, in fact. ( _"Ha!" "Shut it, Athena."_ ) I highly doubt that there's any way to get up there without a ladder or something. And I don't see anything of the sort in this room, do you?"

"Hmmm… I guess you're right."

"Speaking of things in this room, Detective?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell us what you guys turned up?"

"Hey! Not on my watch, buddy! In the name of lady Justice, I cannot reveal facts pertaining to the prosecution's case!"

"Awww, come on!"

"No way, Nuh-uh, end of the line, period. It's the prosecutor's personal request."

Athena perked up. "Excuse me, Detective Fulbright, but I recall you saying earlier that you would 'come running whenever we were in need', right?"

Fulbright looked like he was slapped. "Ah! I suppose I did say that! Helping those in need is what justice is all about, b-but keeping information out of enemy hands is also a form of justice!"

 _'Breakdown number two, here we go…'_

"AAARG! Which Justice is most just? Why is this always so hard!?"

"Well, what about this? Let's do a little give-and-take. Serving the public is part of justice, too, right? Remember the police motto?"

Fulbright scratched his head. "It's… _'To serve and protect'_ … Ack! Of course! I must serve as well as protect! …Okay, I will share some information… in the name of Justice!" He finished, with a salute.

Alex leaned over to whisper in Apollo's ear. "You're getting a lot of praise today, Apollo." He grumbled. "Shut your mouth.", Alex laughed.

"So! Was it Jinxie Tenma who first discovered the crime scene? I hope I got her name right…" Athena said, glancing at the case summary.

"That's right, and you did indeed pronounce her name right! This photo shows what she saw when she opened the door. Ms. Tenma had a key, allowing her immediate access." He showed them a photo, it was a picture of the room earlier, but the outlines were replaced by bodies, the Mayor's and Alderman's bodies, to be precise.

Alex frowned. "When was this picture taken, Detective?"

"Ah! Right! After the first investigator arrived at the scene, he instantly took multiple pictures of the scene, but it was this one that the prosecutor told me to keep an eye on."

 _'Bingo!'_

"Wait a second, key?" Apollo asked. "The chamber was locked?"

"Yes, and Ms. Tenma had the only key to its door."

"Really? So, the Alderman didn't have a key to the Fox Chamber?"

"Actually, he had a master key for most of the doors in the manor, but… It disappeared after his murder."

"Huh? Did the true killer take it?"

"It could very well be connected to the murder. We're looking into the possibility now. But it's the timing of Ms. Tenma's discovery that I think is most important. Of course, I'm not going to share that information with you!" Fulbright laughed.

"You think you're some kind of champion of justice, but you're just plain old meanie!" Athena tried to poke another hole into the detective.

"Ha! I won't fall for that, you shameless rascal! I only help good little boys and girls!" Fulbright said, pulling the photo away.

"Shameless rascal? Who even says that?" Athena said, a little confused.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call you a good little girl, either." Apollo commented, which caused Athena to slightly blush and made his coworker avoid an arm-swing to the head.

"Woah woah woah! Calm down there!" Fulbright tried to hold back Athena by her jacket, as Apollo hid behind Alex.

"I don't have time to separate two young bold lawyers from each-other, tone it down, you two! I need to go investigate this crime scene in a few!"

He dusted off his white suit, and checked his pockets.

"…Actually, one last thing before I let you three go," They perked up, "…I must warn you about the prosecutor."

"The prosecutor assigned to Mayor Tenma's trial?" Apollo asked.

"That's the one. He's… how shall I put it… not what you'd expect. That is unless you've faced a convicted killer serving hard time as a prosecutor before."

"W-What?" Apollo broke a sweat.

Alex frowned, he got a faint sense of Deja-Vu, and leaned forward.

"Who is this prosecutor? Why is he serving as one, while still imprisoned?"

"Because he's mastered the use of psychology in courtroom battles. Everyone's talking about how this murder was the work of some strange creature. But yokai are nothing more than a figment of the imagination. They're baloney! Who better to prove that than a master of psychology? He's the best man for the job."

"Ah, that's why they gave his case to him, makes sense." Alex nodded. Apollo still wasn't convinced.

"But he's a convicted murderer! No matter how you look at it, that's just insane! H-He could… I don't know, kill someone in the courtroom! He's a danger!"

"Well, the chief prosecutor personally assigned him, so… none of us are in a position to question the matter. And don't worry, he will be bound together from doing any harm by the Shackles of Justice!"

"Chief prosecutor? Miles Edgeworth?" Alex asked, without thinking.

"That's him, he's been head of the prosecutor's office for many years now, and although he got a lot of slack for this, everyone eventually agreed with the Chief to let him serve in multiple ways! Ha Ha!" _'…that's not funny to joke about, Fulbright…'_

Athena spoke up, but the instant Alex heard her talk, he turned around. She suddenly seemed very small, and talked in a quiet voice.

"This prosecutor… He wouldn't happen to go by the name 'Blackquill', would he?"

"Bingo! Simon Blackquill. So, you HAVE heard of him?"

Athena turned around even more, avoiding everyone's gaze. "…You could say that."

Suddenly, and without thinking, Alex grabbed the symbol on his chest again, but instead of the tranquil feeling of selflessness he had experienced earlier, his vision blacked out.

* * *

Blood.

Lot's of Blood.

Everywhere he looked, there was blood.

He turned around again, and saw a small child huddled on the floor, rolling herself into the blood, staining her yellow clothes, grabbing her knees to curl up into a ball.

Not sure where he was, he walked over to the little girl, wanting to reassure her, but every step he took, she seemed to distance herself ever so much away from him.

He began to run, but whatever he tried to do, nothing could get him closer to the little girl, while her sobs began to get almost unbearably loud the further away she was.

Eventually, he stopped, and had to put his hands on his ears, and closed his eyes.

The last thing he heard before he passed out was a quiet voice saying "He did not do it… believe me…".

* * *

 _"Well, I bet you don't know his unofficial title. Ever heard of the"Twisted Samurai"? That's Prosecutor Blackquill!"_

 _'What's going on?'_

 _"The 'Twisted Samurai'…? Is that because he's a criminal?"_

Was he awake?

 _"Well… Yes and no. You could say it also has to do with the effect his crime had on things."_

 _'Wait, that's Fulbright.'_

He tried to blink, and at first, he got a very blurry image, then he blinked again.

 _"His conviction is what twisted and warped the legal world into this dark age of the law."_

"Hey, are you okay?"

He felt some poking on his shoulder.

 _"What?! And HE of all people is going to stand in court tomorrow?!"_

He looked to his side, and saw red hair. Athena.

"…"

He distantly heard Fulbright laughing. _"Never fear! I myself will be there to protect you!"_

"Alex?"

"Hm?" He finally snapped out of it, and blinked a final time to see Fulbright presenting his badge to a unnerved Apollo, and Athena looking at him with equally unnerved, but concerned eyes.

He cleared his throat. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" _Blood, Sobs, Helpless._ "I just… need a breather, maybe a cup of coffee."

Athena seemed unconvinced, but nodded.

"Well, you kids knock yourselves out! Can't wait to see how you do tomorrow!" He turned around to walk to the chamber entrance.

"A-Actually, wait, Detective Fulbright. I've been meaning to ask you something. Um… Why do you, uh, on your socks? This doesn't look like the sort of place where you need to take your shoes off…"

"Hm? Ah! I didn't even notice! Why _am_ I on socks?" He looked at his own feet in some sort of surprised-horrified expression, and Alex began laughing, anything to clear up the fever dream stuck in his head.

"Here! Are these your shoes, Detective?" She held the shoes about a feet away from her, in the direction of the Detective, who took them.

"Yes! Yes they are! My favorite pair, in fact! Thank you for bringing them to me. You must truly be on the side of justice!" He saluted with one hand, the other trying to pull the shoes around his (dirtied) socks.

"Heh, hey, Athena? Alex? Shouldn't we go talk to Mr. Filch? See what his alibi is? It's the next thing in my notes."

"Sure, why not?" "Yes, Let's do it!" They walked out of the hallway, leaving behind the Detective, who began humming.

* * *

Athena frowned, she wasn't dumb.

Often enough she had heard her collage friends who pretended to be fine at lunch and dinners, but were _dripping_ with discord in their voices. Often caused by stress, some past experience, or low self-esteem.

Her heart had gone out to them, offering a shoulder to cry on, a face to rant at. It often worked, and she had gotten loyal friends from doing that.

But this was different.

She had cautiously asked the Detective if the prosecutor was indeed… Simon, and then turned around when he confirmed it, she was sure she felt her heart beating in her throat at that point, and wasn't sure if she could reveal to them that she knew him.

But at that moment she heard someone else, a loud fear.

She had turned around again, and found Alexander staring at her, one hand over that weird symbol of his, his expression neutral. But the voice of his heart betrayed that. After a moment, that fear turned into something else. Concern, and then the thing she least expected: The discord of her heart, mirrored in his.

She knew the effects of PTSD, she studied it. The mind would try to push away damaging memories after a traumatic experience. That's why in the earlier years, when she was forced to lie about where she came from, and why she was studying in Europe, she didn't always told the truth. Consciously, at first, but later on, subconsciously, she realized.

She kept hearing a buzzing sound in her ear whenever she did that, and after a lot of thinking, she figured it was the sound of her own heart, saying she was lying, hiding emotions. It became background noise over the years, suppressed.

But now, she was staring at Alexander's chest in some awe, every person's discord was different, some were subtle, others were low-toned. Some irregular, some were a drumming sound… the list goes on.

She had heard Alexander's discord before, and she respected him to not talk about certain topics. Even when it had particularly flared up when they were talking about blood.

But hearing her own discord inside _him_ was… fascinating, but at the same time, scary. She instantly wanted to ask Alexander what happened just then, but couldn't bring herself. She noticed that it disappeared as soon as he blinked a few times, and moved. Then he had talked with such _sadness_ and _concern_ in his voice, overlapping a loud discord, which made sure to hold back any questions Athena might've had out of a sudden weird feeling of guilt.

She walked down the stairs, Alexander humming some tune, surprisingly in harmony with what she then heard from his heart, which was also peculiar, and added to the mystery.

She frowned. _'Just what is the deal with you, Mr. Spiegel?'_


End file.
